The Dodo Archive

Watch A Cat Lap Milk In Slow Motion

The way pets drink can be a source of fascination, perhaps because they're so effective at lapping up liquid when we humans require a cup or a straw. Cats and dogs both drink by touching their tongues to the surface of a liquid, but the way that liquid makes it to the animals' mouths is actually quite different. Cats drink in a way that allows them to avoid upsetting their sensitive whiskers -- either by pawing water into their mouths, or by lapping it up in a column:

Dogs do things a little differently: as this video of a dog drinking in slow motion shows, canines manage to cup water with their tongues before retracting it into their mouths.